


Destiny, and it's caveats

by Abstract_Thoughts



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Magic, Multi, Original Character(s), Polyamory, Post-Canon, Post-Canon Fix-It, Worldbuilding, arthur: the church is already gonna come for me for being with a man so this might as well happen, non-binary original character - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 17:07:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,961
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28549098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abstract_Thoughts/pseuds/Abstract_Thoughts
Summary: Arthur is dead, and then he isn't.In fact, a lot of people who weren't dead aren't dead anymore, saved by The Glow. Too many. That's too many put some bac-Alternatively, Merlin saves Arthur's life and goes a bit too hard.
Relationships: Gwaine/Percival (Merlin), Gwen & Merlin (Merlin), Gwen/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Gwen/Lancelot (Merlin), Gwen/Morgana (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Kudos: 13





	Destiny, and it's caveats

Arthur was heavy.

He clearly couldn’t stand anymore, and Merlin cast several lightening charms in the hopes it would help him get him into the boat. He dragged his king to the water’s edge, the bot taking it’s sweet time to get across the water.

He picked Arthur up under his elbows and knees, setting him down in the boat. His king grumbled as Merlin got his cloak around him, shushing him gently, “You’re going to be okay, Arthur,” he assured him (and himself), “We’ll get you across-”

“ _EMRYS_!” came a shriek, and Merlin flung himself to the side, his grip on Excalibur, and Morgana snarled at him, “How long did you intend to keep running, O Wise One?”

Merlin sighed, and apologized gently to Arthur as he took the sword, unfamiliar and yet intimately familiar, he spun it with ease, and Morgana laughed, “I am a High Priestess of the Triple Goddess! No blade ca-”

Merlin shoved it through her chest, “This blade was forged in a Dragon’s breath,” he snarled, ripping it out and shoving her down to bleed out. He stalked back to Arthur, wiping the blade off on his own shirt.

“Merlin, just-” Arthur tried to say, but Merlin shushed him,

“I’ve got this,” he assured him, “You’re going to be okay,” and he pushed the boat off the shore, stepping on as they moved into the fog.

The Isle of the Blessed raised before them, and Merlin picked Arthur up again, stepping onto the Isle with practiced ease and setting his king ~~his love, his everything, the other side of his coin, his destiny~~ , down on the altar. He opened his mouth to cast, but spun as he felt a presence.

There, in all Her glory, was the Triple Goddess.

The Phantom Queen.

The Morrigan.

“Emrys,” she said, and Merlin turned his back on her,

“I’m in the middle of something,” he said, and she chuckled a bit,

“I’m aware,” she slid to the other side of the altar, “I intend to assist- overcoming death itself is no easy task, even for you,”

“I’m aware I’ve done it before,”

“Not a death foretold, however,”

Merlin looked up at her, at her glowing golden form and her shifting faces, “That is... True- but we’ve no time to spare, here, My Lady, and you’ll forgive me if Arthur takes priority-”

“I understand your bond with your king, Merlin,” she said, ever so gentle. She’d used the same tone before the battle, too.

She cared, however much she tried to put on airs of being a cold, calculating war goddess.

“So how do you intend to help?” he asked.

“Like this,” and she reached out, and gently touched Merlin’s forehead.

Magic is about intent. It’s about moving energy, and making it do what you want.

And just like any other energy, too much can cause an explosion.

The Isle of the Blessed shook as Merlin gently put his hands on Arthur’s chest, finding the metal against his heart faster than he would’ve been able to anywhere else.

“ _You_ ,”

Merlin, now glowing, his eyes solid gold, whirled to face Morgana, who was drenched. Had she swam across the lake? “I’m in the middle of something, here,” he said, almost jumping at the way his voice echoed.

“I noticed,” she spat, pulling her hair around to squeeze some of the water out, “Now, step away from the body, and just let me have this,”

The Isle shook again, “You know I can’t do that,”

Morgana chuckled, “Ever the hero,” she flipped her hair over her shoulder, “Then _die_ like one!” she thrust her hands forward, and something... Happened.

Merlin thrust his own hands out to deflect, his only thoughts to protect, protect, _protect_ , and Albion _glowed_.

Across the lands, wounds were healed, the sick cured, the dying returned. Some dead sat up in their coffins and families rejoiced. Aches and pains were gone, old wounds’ agony lessened.

And on the Isle of the Blessed, Morgana shrieked grabbing her hair and throwing herself against a pillar, apparently believing this was some sort of explosion.

And she looked up at Merlin, her eyes just as golden, and something _happened_.

Merlin had heard of a life flashing before one’s eyes before, but never someone else’s. He saw her childhood, marred by never being as good as Arthur, always the King’s Ward, never agreeing with His Majesty. He saw her growing disillusionment with Uther’s methods and actions towards sorcerers, her anger and fear as Merlin poisoned her, how Morgause was the only one there for her, how she twisted her and bent her until, despite knowing how wrong it was, knowing that this was manipulation, Morgana followed. She tried to beat death itself for her sister despite everything she’d done to her, and she’d failed.

She’d never felt like she’d won anything since.

And as Merlin reached up to touch the tears on his face, Morgana did the same, stumbling to her feet in confusion, “What did you-” they both tried to say at the same time, then snarled at each other.

“What did you _think_ was going to happen!?” Morgana shrieked at him, “You keep up this facade of hating magic, and you have a chance to fix it-”

“I would’ve seen Mordred dead and Arthur alive rather than myself be free-”

“You’re such an idiot, Merlin! You could’ve used your magic to reinforce Camelot’s defences-”

“As if anyone would’ve agreed to that-”

“Arthur is so head over heels for you, I’d be surprised if he didn’t-”

“What the hell are you talking ab-”

Their argument was cut off as Merlin turned to see Arthur sitting up, and Merlin lunged to his side, half trying to babble the right physician questions as more tears spilled over and he was able to ramble about how he was alive, and Arthur chuckled, “You’re glowing,” he said, and Merlin snort laughed,

“I am,”

“It’s lovely,” and he put a hand on the side of Merlin’s hair, and leaned in to kiss him.

The world spun for a second, and Merlin managed to kiss him back through his half-hysteric giggles, completely forgetting Morgana right there.

Until she cleared her throat, and Arthur’s hand went to his sword.

“So what are you going to do with me?” she asked, raising her hands in defeat, “... Kill me?”

“So I was dead?” Gwaine asked, hacking more leaves out of the way as they neared Lake Avalon.

“Yeah,” Percival frowned, “And then everything glowed, and you were alright again,”

“... I’d say it was a blessing but-”

“Usually not that literal,” Percival nodded, and they broke through the trees.

And of course, Sir Lancelot and Sir Elyan were standing on the banks, just chatting.

“And more dead men walk...” Gwaine muttered, and waved to his- again, supposed to be dead- companions, “Gentlemen!” he called, and Elyan and Lancelot waved back, running up the banks towards the other two. They ended up clashing together into what resembled a group hug, and Percival chuckled,

“Aren’t you guys dead?”

Elyan and Lancelot shared a look, “We... Were?” Elyan offered, seeming confused by the concept, himself, “And then there was light, and here we are,”

“Huh,” was all Gwaine could say before a boat appeared through the mist, and Lancelot said,

“Merlin and Arthur,”

There they were, ever the pair, and Morgana was at their side, almost passive. For a woman who had tortured him to death not even 24 hours prior, she looked very downcast. Also, she was bound in glowing golden string, which was actually kind of cool.

Arthur and Merlin stepped off first, Morgana another step behind them, “Gentlemen,” Arthur said, then paused at the sight of Elyan and Lancelot, “Aren’t you-”

“We were,” the two said at the same time, and Arthur nodded, turning back to the group,

“Anyway, let’s transport the Lady Morgana back to Camelot, we must discuss the next steps as a group,”

“I didn’t know anyone could get over there,” Gwaine mumbled as they moved back into the brush,”

“There’s a boat,” Merlin said, ridiculously ominously.

“Oh,” Gwaine nodded, “Cool,”

* * *

“So you were dead?” Gwen said to her brother and former lover.

“But now we’re not,” Elyan nodded, and Gwen squeezed the hug a bit tighter,

“God, I’m so glad,”

Lancelot nodded, “It’s quiet but... Lonely,”

“We swapped a lot of stories about you,” Elyan grinned, and his sister pushed him back,

“You absolute monster of a brother, how dare you!” he cackled louder, and Gwen just shook her head with a smile.

Her crying was over for now, they had a meeting to have.

As usual, Merlin stood behind Arthur and Gwen, and Gwen turned around to shoot him a grin, but Arthur sat with a space in between them, “King Consort is something worthy of a place,” the King gave Merlin a shit eating grin, ignoring the way the table erupted at the phrase “King Consort”, and Merlin blushed furiously, “Arthur-”

“You’ve always been a part of this court, Merlin. Now we just have it in writing,” his smile turned gentle, and Gwen just grinned wider, motioning to the seat again.

Merlin buried his face in his hands, but pulled them back with a breath and sat down, “King Consort,” he mumbled, and Arthur took his hand, kissing the back of his knuckles,

“Also Court Sorcerer, should you like,”

Merlin blushed harder, “That’s! You can’t just throw a bunch of titles at me-”

“I’m the King, yes I can,”

Gwen just grinned, pretending not to see Gwaine and Leon swap gold, “We do have a meeting here, Achilles and Patroclus,”

Merlin stuck his tongue out at her, but they shifted back into serious mode for only a moment before Gwaine slammed his hands on the table and stood, “King Consort!?” he demanded, and the table erupted again.

“Okay, so-” Arthur laughed a bit, “Okay, things _happened_ -”

“And you didn’t _share_!?” Gwaine looked genuinely offended, “You’re my friends! I bet money on this!”

“You-” Arthur blushed, “You _what_!?”

“I said what I said!” Gwaine insisted, and sat back down, seeming content with this now.

The quiet was palpable, “... So, Morgana is in the dungeons, but considering the renovations down there, we were considering moving her into her old chambers,”

Elyan blinked at him, “... Why? She killed me, albeit indirectly, Lancelot, too. She killed Gwaine! She killed you!”

“Mordred killed me,” Arthur insisted, “And Merlin’s been fairly insistent, so perhaps he should explain,”

Merlin fiddled with his hands, “I.. Don’t know how to explain it,” he said, “She... She and I sort of? Had a mutual vision on the Isle of the Blessed? And she... No one deserves to rot down there, I don’t think...”

The Table was quiet, but Lancelot nodded, “I agree. The woman who was our friend once is in there somewhere, even if she will never be the same. Circumstance twisted her, just as it has all of us. It would be unfair to punish her for her actions if we would have done the same,”

“War is different,” Gwaine muttered.

“Then why are we punishing her for it?” Gwen asked, “Merlin’s right, that’s _why_ we’re renovating the dungeons,”

“That’s just how it is!” Gwaine insisted, “How it’s always been!”

“And that makes it okay?” Leon said, “We also used to murder anyone who even thought about magic,”

Gwaine nodded, “Alright, whatever,”

Elyan nodded, “I don’t like it but... I understand what we need to do,”

“All in favour?” Arthur asked, and the majority of hands went up, “All opposed?” Gwaine put his hand up, “Then the Lady Morgana is to be moved to her old quarters,”

Gwaine nodded, “... Understood, sire,” Gwen pretended not to notice the way his shoulders shook as he said it.


End file.
